Photo: A screenshot of India's Chief of the Army Staff General Upendra Dwivedi speaking at Raisina Dialogue 2026

The Indian government's Press Information Bureau (PIB) Fact Check unit has debunked a viral video purporting to show Chief of the Army Staff General Upendra Dwivedi speaking about informing Israel about the location of an Iranian ship.

In an official post on X on March 9, PIB Fact Check described the clip as an AI-generated deepfake designed to mislead the public. The post claimed: "Pakistani propaganda accounts are sharing a digitally manipulated video of the Indian Army Chief General Upendra Dwivedi, making false claims that when the Iranian ship crossed the international waters, as Israeli strategic allies, it was our duty to inform Israel about their exact location as a part of our newer strategic deal."

As of press time on Tuesday, Global Times reporters have not found official Pakistani government or military statement - such as from the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) - been released endorsing or commenting on the video's content. 

"Beware! This is an AI-generated deepfake video shared to mislead the public. General Upendra Dwivedi has made NO such statement," read the post that also attached the contrast between the altered video and the original one. 

The video circulating online appears to be an AI-generated deepfake that alters footage from an original interview with Dwivedi. Multiple Indian media outlets and fact-checkers, including The Quint, have traced the source clip to a genuine session at the Raisina Dialogue 2026. The original remarks were made during a conversation on March 7, 2026, hosted as part of the Raisina Dialogue, where, according to The Quint, he talked about the learnings from Operation Sindoor and how the army is monitoring the situation across the world.

The Quint report also highlighted that they did not find any mention about the Iranian ship sinking or any statement that talked about India revealing the location to Israel.

PIB Fact Check urged in the post the public to report such content and verify information through official sources. 

Global Times reporters noted under the PIB Fact Check post, some Indian X users were criticizing the belatedness of such debunking efforts. 

Mohammed Zubair, co-founder of the India's Alt News, wrote under the PIB post that "Govt Fact Check is at least 10 hours late." Zubair also cited a post of his own citing Turkish account @FukanGozukara' earlier effort to contrast the real and AI-generated video.

Another X user Zylon B questioned by leaving post under the PIB post that "it does not matter if it's fake or not, that's exactly what India did: Provided the whereabouts of Iranian ship."

"No point debunking after 12 hours, after the whole thing has gone viral," commented another X user going by Himadri2047.

Global Times